The New York Yankees can’t seem to catch a break from the injury bug; just after starting pitchers Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón finally returned from injury, captain Aaron Judge heads to the bench for at least a month or two. Now, catcher Austin Wells‘ injury adds to the list. According to Gary Phillips of The Athletic, manager Aaron Boone said late on Saturday night that the 26-year-old backstop came down with cervical headaches after that night’s game was postponed due to rain, though initial tests showed no signs of a concussion. Wells will undergo more tests in New York on Monday.
Austin Wells Injury Adds to Growing List for Yankees
In a subsequent move, the Yankees also recalled catcher J.C. Escarra, whom they had just sent down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre the day prior. Neither catcher has been particularly productive this year, at least offensively: at the time of his injury, Wells was slashing .166/.278/.255 with just four homers and seven RBI. Escarra hasn’t been much better, with his own slash line of .177/.235/.258. Ali Sanchez, who is now Escarra’s backup as the third-string catcher, was also just called up to the majors a few days ago, though he hasn’t appeared in MLB since last season. With their starting catcher out for at least a week or two, the Yankees will have to come up with some creative ways to determine who will start in Wells’ absence.
Aaron Boone said Austin Wells reported his headaches late last night. Tests showed no concussion.
Boone thinks the treatment plan is just rest for now, but the #Yankees will have doctors run “a battery of tests” on Wells’ neck tomorrow. https://t.co/eAQQdS5H6T
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) June 7, 2026
Who’s Catching Now?
The obvious choice, other than the two designated catchers on New York’s roster, is, of course, the red-hot Ben Rice, who holds the 2nd highest OPS in the entire league right now (1.050) behind Yordan Alvarez (1.084). Rice, who has not appeared behind the dish in a regular-season game since September 27th, is primarily the Yankees’ starting first baseman. However, with veteran Paul Goldschmidt heating up with an .889 OPS over his last 30 games, the Yankees could easily give Rice a few starts at his former position.
Then again, Wells’ absence will only be truly felt defensively, and he likely won’t even miss more than 10 games. Though the Yankees do have quite a few players missing from the lineup other than Wells, including Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jasson Domínguez, it is also an opportunity for New York to turn to players like Spencer Jones in hopes they will step up and deliver in their absence. Escarra was also having a rough sophomore season before getting sent down, so perhaps he can right the ship as well during this next week or two.
Set Up to Win
Even though things were already bleak injury-wise for the Yankees before the news of Judge’s two-month (or more) absence, the good news is that they have already put themselves in a good position to win without some of their best players. Now 38-26 after winning Sunday’s series finale against Boston, New York is now in a virtual tie for the best record in the American League with the Tampa Bay Rays (37-25). So even in the absence of players like Judge, Max Fried, and now learning of the Austin Wells injury, the Yankees should still be considered one of the better teams in the AL, and they should only start to worry come September.
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